Sedona's Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, May 5, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring New York City poet Sean Patrick Mulroy and hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham.
All poets are welcome to compete for the $75 grand prize and $25 second-place prize. The prize is funded in part by a donation from Verde Valley poetry supporter Jeanne Freeland.
The slam will the sixth and last of the 2011-12 regular season, which has been more moving, more energetic and more intense because this year as poets compete for a slot in Sedona's first National Poetry Slam Team.
After four years of collaborating with the Flagstaff and Phoenix metro area poetry slam scenes, the Sedona scene has the reputation and strength to send its own team to the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C., in August. The eventual four-poet team will share the stage with 300 of the top poets in the United States, Canada and Europe, pouring out their words in a weeklong explosion of expression.
This is the last slam of the regular season. The next slam will be invitation only and feature the best of the best poets competing for the coveted top four slots plus an alternate.
Sean Patrick Mulroy
Born and raised in Southern Virginia, the house where Mulroy grew up was built in 1801 and was commandeered by the union army during the Civil War to serve as a makeshift hospital. As a Mulroy, Sean loved to peel back the carpets to show where the blood from hasty surgeries on wounded soldiers had stained the wooden floorboards. Now he writes poems.
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| Photo by Penmanship Books |
Mulroy has performed in 10 countries on three continents, participated in 6 national spoken-word competitions, written and recorded three albums of music, and released more than 10 chapbooks of original poetry. He has been published in both online and print journals, and has featured at literary festivals for universities and arts organizations all over the world. He is currently on tour full-time while working on three new manuscripts and a new musical project.
Sedona Poetry Slam
To compete in the slam, poets need at least three original poems, each three minutes long or shorter. No props, costumes or musical accompaniment are permitted. All types of poetry are welcome.
Sedona National Poetry Slam Team
Competing poets earn points with each Sedona Poetry Slam performance between Dec. 3 and Saturday, May 5. Every poet earns 1 point for performing or hosting and 1/2 point for calibrating. First place earns 3 additional points, second place earns 2 and third place earns 1.
Based on points, the top 12 poets in May are eligible to compete for the four slots on the Sedona Poetry Slam Team, which will represent the community and Studio Live at the 2012 National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, N.C.
All poets are eligible in the slamoff except those already confirmed members of or coaching another National Poetry Slam or College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational or Brave New Voices team. Poets can compete for multiple teams during a season and still be eligible to compete in the Sedona team.
For poetry slam standings, videos from past slams, and updates, visit foxthepoet.blogspot.com.
What is Poetry Slam?
Founded in Chicago in 1984, poetry slam is a competitive artistic sport. Poetry slams are judged by five randomly chosen members of the audience who assign numerical value to individual poets' contents and performances.Poetry slam has become an international artistic sport, with more than 100 major poetry slams in the United States, Canada, Australia and Western Europe.
Tickets are $7 in advance and $12 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.
Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona. For more information, call (928) 282-2688.
